Skift Take

Appointment of new CEO earlier this year and repositioning it as a media provider rather than just pipes may not be enough; too late, too little on both micro and macros trends.

— Rafat Ali

LodgeNet Interactive Corp, a provider of cable TV, on-demand movies, Nintendo video games and Internet services to hotels and hospitals, said it will likely have to file for bankruptcy protection by the end of December.

LodgeNet said it was unable to pay $26 million due to DirecTV and Home Box Office Inc (HBO) on Monday but had agreed with them to postpone payment until Dec. 31 to allow it to continue negotiations with its lenders and a potential investor.

LodgeNet, which has a market capitalization of $3.8 million, said it was unlikely it be able to pay on Dec. 31 and would have to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection if the deadline was not extended.

Moody’s put LodgeNet’s debt at $346 million when it said on Dec. 4 that the company faced bankruptcy, noting it had revenue of about $379 million in the year to Sept. 30.

LodgeNet, which has posted a profit in only three of the last 15 quarters, said in August that it was exploring strategic and refinancing alternatives.

The company’s share price has almost halved over the past six months, closing at 14 cents on Friday.